Episode 10: Rest, Relaxation, Murder
by Castle Season 9
Summary: With their daughter's birth on the horizon, Beckett and Castle take a much-needed "babymoon" vacation. But when a guest at their luxury resort dies under suspicious circumstances, they find themselves juggling their own R&R with finding a killer.
1. Chapter 1

**Rest, Relaxation, Murder**

Season 9, Episode 10

Written by Trinity Everett

 _This is a work of fiction by writers with no professional connection to ABC network's Castle. Recognizable characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC. Names, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental._

* * *

Rosie Laka had been doing this job for a long time, almost longer than anyone else on staff. She had been at the resort through thick and thin, ownership changes and management shuffles. She knew what she was doing every step of the way.

Which was why she couldn't stand the woman whose room she had been sent to freshen up. There had been guests like her over the years, of course, but this one took the cake. Rude, demanding, flat-out mean; you name it, this woman could be described that way. It was a wonder the management hadn't asked her to go.

Although, given the the amount of money they were making from the miserable woman's long-term visit, it was fairly obvious why she was allowed to stay.

Not that that made it better for Rosie and the rest of the hotel staff who had to deal with the - and she hated using the word - bitch. They were still the ones waiting on the woman hand and foot while she looked through them as if they didn't exist.

And here Rosie was again, starting her shift - early, no less, since their esteemed guest needed these towels _before_ her sunrise yoga - by wheeling her cart down the east wing of the hotel toward room 4717. In a couple of hours, the hotel would be a bustling center of activity, but before dawn it was every bit as calming and sleepy as one would expect.

Rosie thought about the people sleeping behind the closed doors. The people who would, at some point, awaken and make their coffee, or perhaps request it from room service, and settle out on their balconies to take in the shimmer of the sun on the aqua water and the delicate breeze they enjoyed on the windward side of the island. It was paradise to them, a getaway from the insanity of their normal lives.

She envied that.

Instead, she got to push her cart along the empty hall, listening to the quiet brush of the wheels on the carpet.

Upon reaching her destination, Rosie paused, taking a deep breath, steeling herself to deal with the worst guest she had ever encountered in the twelve years she had been working at the resort. She just had to knock, muster a smile, and deliver the still-warm towels straight to the bathroom. Then she would be free to go back to the lounge and wait for the day to actually begin.

She just had to do it.

Lifting her hand, Rosie rapped on the door as quietly as she could manage.

"Housekeeping," she added, as if there would be anyone else approaching a guest's door at this hour of the morning.

She waited, not wanting to be too overzealous in her task. Although it was typical of this guest to be waiting right by her door with her foot tapping, she _could_ still be in bed or using the restroom.

When no answer came, she knocked again, adding, "Ms. Murphy, it's housekeeping with your towels."

Again, there was nothing to indicate that Susan Murphy was making her way through her suite to open the door. Rosie waited one more beat before fishing her master key from her pocket and using it to let herself into the room.

"Ms. Murphy," she called again, making a note of the drawn curtains, the warm glow from the lamp beside the plush chaise, the leftover food from a room-service order. "I've brought your towels."

Shifting said towels, she made her way toward the bathroom. If Ms. Murphy had stepped out, then she would just leave the requested towels and be done. All told, it would probably be the best exchange Rosie had had with the woman.

The solid wood door to the bathroom had been pulled shut, leaving Rosie to tap on it lightly. The last thing she needed was a sexual harassment complaint against her because she had walked in on the world's worst guest in the bath. When no answer came, she moved the door on its tracks, ready to make her deposit and go.

The pool of crimson stopped her in her tracks.

Rosie had seen many, many things in her time on the housekeeping staff at Hanalei Winds Resort - vomit, feces, even a few passed-out partiers - but never… never this.

Never the crumpled dead body of one of their guests. And she had to be dead; Susan Murphy's eyes were open, staring out at her, devoid of cognition.

Rosie's hold on the towels went slack, and the stark white terrycloth tumbled to the floor, narrowly avoiding the - God - the blood. She took a step back, knocking into the corner of the door.

And she screamed.

* * *

"Oops," Castle murmured around a bite of guava. Juice dripped from the piece between his fingers, blazing a trail over his wrist and down his arm, pulling a quiet laugh from his lips. "Making a mess."

Beside him, Kate's quiet snort turned into a full-blown snicker as he twisted and contorted to lick up the juice before it could land on their sheets. After a moment of watching him squirm, his wife handed him a napkin and confiscated the slice of fruit in return. The sneak.

"Hey," he mock-grumbled, nudging her under the covers with his knee. "We have an entire plate of fresh, ripe fruit, and you steal mine?"

Beckett smirked, licking the remainder of the guava nectar from her fingers - sending his heart knocking against his ribs in the process - before she plucked another piece of fruit from the plate they had settled on her belly. Relaxation looked good on her; the last twelve days had been spent enjoying sand, sun, and mild weather on what he knew she hated to call a "babymoon," despite the name being more true than not. The trip had been an anniversary gift, a way for them to both unwind after an insane holiday season as well as reconnect with one another before their daughter made her entrance into the world.

With just a few more days to their stay, Castle had to pat himself on the back; it had been the perfect gift for them both. Instead of early morning body drops, they took early morning beach walks - when they weren't sleeping in and greeting the day in other ways, of course. Instead of sitting at a desk doing paperwork, they sat by the pool reading long-neglected novels. He felt rested and content, and the glow of his wife's skin, the easy way she smiled, told him that Kate felt the same.

"Maybe I just like it better when it's yours," Beckett teased, pulling him from his congratulatory thoughts to wiggle another piece of fruit under his nose. Mango this time.

Curling his fingers around her wrist, he took the offering from her, savoring the splash of sweetness against his palate. His tongue flitted out, tasting the remnants of flavor on the tips of her fingers. She was right; it did taste better that way.

Her mouth landed on his, stealing his agreement from his lips. "When we're done eating, let's get out and stretch our legs. She's doing somersaults again; maybe the walk will calm her down."

Castle nodded, moving the plate aside to curve his hand over the swell of Kate's stomach. Their daughter nudged at his hand, pushing a foot or a tiny fist against the confines of her mother's belly.

"Yes, we know you're there. Don't use your mommy as a punching bag, though."

Kate chuckled, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. "She's fine. She'll settle eventually, and it is good to feel her wiggling around in there. Uncomfortable at times, but good."

Her hand covered his, her fingers dipping into the spaces between his own, keeping him anchored to her as she reached for their food again. Rick hummed in contentment, alternating between offering his wife fruit and taking pieces for himself until the plate was empty.

Almost an hour later, they had finally made it out of their suite, eager to stroll the grounds of the resort. Their steps were anything but hurried, and out of the corner of his eye, as they neared a crowd on the far side of the compound, he saw Beckett adjusting her sunglasses before her hand slipped into the crook of his elbow.

He toyed with the idea of stopping, too, becoming one of the onlookers, but Kate gave his arm a delicate tug and motioned toward a different path.

"Waterfall," she murmured, looking out toward the horizon.

Castle nodded, but gave the crowd another look over his shoulder.

It was probably nothing, a guest who had enjoyed a little bit too much relaxation if nothing else, but maybe they would check it out on the way back.

Curiosity or not, he had no trouble turning his attention to the gorgeous woman at his side as she toed off her sandals and stepped gingerly into the shallow plunge pool surrounding one of the resort's waterfalls. She had chosen the more secluded of the two, and he couldn't fault her for that; the other one doubled as a wishing well half the time, but this one felt like it was theirs and theirs alone. After sneaking a picture of her with her head tilted toward the sky, her palm on her belly, Rick joined her, wiggling his toes in the loose sediment under his feet.

"I almost feel bad for the boys back in New York," she hummed, offering him a half-smile. "Alexis said it was snowing again when she called last night."

He chuckled. "Don't feel too bad, I would say we've more than earned this."

Her fingers slid over her belly once before she took a step toward the waterfall. "Yeah, I think we have, too."

Oddly enough, the crowd was still lingering when they returned from their walk, making it difficult to pass. Gesturing for Beckett to lead the way, he trailed behind his wife, keeping an ear out for chatter as to _what_ was going on.

 _"I heard she was drunk and hit her head,"_ one voice said, grabbing his attention as they shuffled through the throng.

Rick's lips curled; he'd been there. Five stitches and a lot of embarrassment later, he had apologized to the general manager of the Beverly Hills hotel and taken great care never to book a stay there again.

 _"Well,_ I _heard she killed herself,"_ a second voice chimed in, sounding far too smug for her own good.

Wait, a woman was dead?

That had Beckett's steps slowing, too.

Castle's head tilted, trying to catch a glimpse of the speaker without making his intentions too obvious. He couldn't tell which of the women had been speaking, but his gut told him something was definitely up.

"Beckett," he started, waiting until she glanced back in acknowledgement to continue, "I think-"

"Mr. Castle? Ms. Beckett?"

After almost two weeks of being 'The Castles' or 'Mr. and Mrs. Castle' at every turn, it was strange to hear Beckett's surname from someone other than him. They turned to find a slim man in a resort uniform striding toward them. Even from a distance, Castle could see that he looked harried; his hair was ruffled and his jaw was tight with tension.

The man came to a stop in front of them, dropping his voice in spite of his proximity. "Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett, we have a bit of a situation."

Castle shared a look with his wife, lifting an eyebrow. "That had come to our attention, yes."

A breath puffed from the other man's lips. "Yes, that much is rather obvious, I guess."

Beckett gave the crowd a pointed look. "You could say that. May I ask what's going on?"

"Ah, it's a bit complicated. And I'm sorry to ask this of you, but we could use your help."


	2. Chapter 2

_We could use your help_.

Kate Beckett lifted an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I follow you. What exactly do you think we'll be able to do?"

Their visitor – Anthony Palani, the resort's day manager, she remembered from his poolside introduction on the second day of their stay – lifted a hand in supplication. "I absolutely understand that you're here as guests, but my mother's a little bit of a fan - okay, a lot of a fan - of yours, Mr. Castle, and your reputation kind of precedes you both, and... well, why don't you come with me?"

Sharing a look with Castle, she stepped forward, letting Anthony lead the way past the crowd and into a wing of the resort that was nearly identical to theirs.

"What _exactly_ happened here?" Rick asked from over her shoulder, sounding just as ready as she was to understand what was going on and why they were being called upon like this.

"This is Susan Murphy's room," Anthony explained, looking back at them. "She's one of our extended guests. This morning, a member of our housekeeping staff was delivering an item to her, and discovered - well, given your expertise, I think you should see for yourself."

Beckett hesitated at the door, eyeing the bright yellow caution tape. Custodial tape, not police tape, she noticed. "Anthony, have the police been called? You obviously know what we do, which means if you've found - you need to call the police."

The young man looked startled. "Of course! They're... they're also inside. This was just the fastest way to secure everything before they arrived."

Pressing her hand to her stomach, Beckett looked around again. "Anthony, I don't have any kind of jurisdiction and no police force is going to want our input. And, I'm sorry for being blunt, but to be honest with you, I'm on vacation with my husband... I'm not looking to get into a turf war with the local PD over something they can handle on their own."

Anthony grimaced. "As I said, I hate to ask this of you, but-"

"You don't think she just slipped and fell, do you?" Castle interrupted from behind her, his voice low, knowing.

Beckett watched color creep up Anthony's neck.

"And," her husband added, "you want to get any investigation over faster - PR reasons, of course - so that's why you want multiple sets of eyes on the case."

The day manager sucked in a deep breath, his mask slipping back into place. "In exchange for your help, we would be happy to provide you with a complimentary upgrade to our top tier suite for the remainder of your stay."

Glancing back at Rick, Beckett saw his eyebrows had jumped toward his hairline. "I thought that was what I had booked?"

Anthony nodded. "You did, absolutely, but I'm talking now about the presidential suite. It's reserved for dignitaries and, of course, the president. I can also book you extra time at the spa, no charge, as well as have complimentary room service arranged?"

Kate shared a look with her husband. It wasn't their place, not by a long shot, but Anthony seemed more than serious about wanting or needing the assistance. Castle's head tilted, his lips quirking in indication that it was her decision to make. Vacation or no, he was always game for a mystery to solve.

"The upgrades won't be necessary," she said first. "I'm not sure it would even be ethical to accept them. But we'll help as much as we can while we're here."

Anthony's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you. You won't regret this."

She hoped not. As much as she wanted to stay in vacation mode for another few days, a woman had lost her life; Kate could spare a few brain cells to help find the responsible party.

Though she wouldn't mind at least changing out of her loungewear. Nothing said professional like sandals and a sundress.

"What can you tell us?" she asked after a moment, ready to get moving on this.

Anthony gestured for them to enter the room, replacing the caution tape behind them once they had stepped inside. A uniformed officer stepped over alongside another member of the hotel staff, both of them holding out a hand to stop them.

"Sir, ma'am, you can't be in here," the officer started, only to be cut off by the sandy-haired man at his side. Kate remembered him from when they had checked in; Davis, his name was Davis. He was the night manager at the resort.

"Anthony, what are you doing? You can't just bring guests into this," Davis hissed, giving Castle and Beckett a harsh once-over.

Anthony shook his head, coming to their defense. "This is Captain Beckett with the NYPD, and Mr. Castle is a private investigator in New York. I've asked them both to be involved. They're willing to help, and I think it's better for the rest of the guests if we get this settled fast, don't you, Davis?"

Davis pursed his lips, looking around the suite once before offering a tense nod. "Fine. But please, be discreet."

Beckett dipped her head. "Of course. We'll do what we can. Provided there are no objections from the local police."

Anthony thanked his colleague quietly, releasing a heavy breath when the other man darted from the room to handle things at the front desk.

"I'm sorry. Obviously this is a situation that's new for us."

Castle took the opportunity to speak up. "Understandable." He turned to the officer, giving him one of his disarming smiles. "And like Captain Beckett said, we will do everything we can to be discreet about matters. What can you tell us so far?"

The young officer eyed them, but conceded after a moment. "We're still conducting preliminary scene investigation. You'll have to speak to Detective Rauf for more details."

Beckett nodded, glancing over at Castle to find him looking around the suite. It was their usual method of divide and conquer; she would handle asking the questions while he did that.

"Thank you, Officer Nguyen," she murmured, watching the officer's shoulders relax at the use of his name. Good; the last thing she wanted to do was come off hostile with the local police, especially when it was obvious that they really didn't want them there at all. "What can you tell us about the victim so far?"

"Susan Murphy, 34. Driver's license says her home address is in New York, but the hotel says she's a part-time resident here. Apparently she splits the year. That must be nice."

Her lips lifted a bit. Even in a tropical paradise, the cop sense of humor remained the same.

"Tell me about it, there's a foot of snow on the ground at home."

That got an honest smile out of him. "Don't envy you there, Captain."

"Very few people do," she quipped, letting her gaze shift to the open bathroom door. "May I?"

He nodded, trailing behind her as she crossed the threshold to find a detective and a man in a Medical Examiner windbreaker crouched over a contorted figure on the floor. Both men looked up at her footsteps. Beckett watched the detective's eyes widen and gave him a nod in return. He didn't seem too impressed with the gesture.

"I'm sorry, who let you in here? This area is off-limits."

"I'm Captain Beckett, NYPD," she started, wanting to get the pleasantries - or lack thereof - out of the way before they got any further into this investigation. "My partner and I were asked by the resort to consult. I don't plan to step on your toes, but we are here to help."

Detective Rauf looked as if he might argue, but the ME at his side called for his attention instead. "Detective, it's doubtful that she was breathing when she hit the floor."

Rauf turned back to his associate. "Based on?"

The ME used his pen as a pointer, indicating the undisturbed pool of blood under the victim's cheek. Even from the end of the room, Beckett could see a large contusion on the woman's forehead; the source of the blood, no doubt.

"Obviously this has had time to settle, but even then I don't see any evidence that it was disturbed at all by respiration. Which makes it unlikely to me that the head wound is our COD."

"So what is?" Castle asked, stepping into the bathroom behind her.

Irritation flooded Detective Rauf's face again, but again he didn't say a word to have them removed.

The ME glanced Castle's way, giving his head a slight shake. "I won't be able to say until I get her on my table."

"But it doesn't appear to be an accident or a suicide," Rick prompted, catching Kate's eye. She gave him a nod, pleased that they were on the same wavelength.

The look they received wasn't necessarily friendly, but the ME shook his head. "No. Not in my opinion. But I'll know more in a couple hours once I've had time to do a thorough examination."

"In the meantime," Beckett began, looking around the en suite. "If you don't mind, we can gather information about her - see if she was here alone, if she had any friends at the resort, if there was anyone who might have had motive to harm her? It's free leg work, Detective, and we'll contact you as soon as we know anything."

Detective Rauf's lips pursed, but in the end, he conceded and fished his business card from his wallet. "The second you know anything, you get in touch."

Kate nodded, pleased not to have this turn into an argument. "Of course," she promised, taking the card from his fingers.

"Doc, if you're ready?"

The other man nodded, signaling for two men in jumpsuits to step past Castle and Beckett and into the bathroom. Beckett watched them prepare to collect the body. "I'll call you with my findings, Detective."

Kate stepped back, taking Castle by the elbow to get him to do the same. "We should talk to Anthony, decide where to start on our end."

Her husband nodded, following her from the bathroom and back to the hotel manager without a word.

* * *

"Dude, I don't even know where to start with this junk," Esposito grumbled, carrying a pile of their victim's personal effects off of the elevator, trusting his partner and Officer Aragon to be behind him with their respective loads. Two more uniformed officers were waiting downstairs with more. "We are going to be here all night."

Aragon snorted. "You make it sound like it's late, Esposito. It's four in the afternoon. You gonna catch the early bird special and call it a night at eight?"

"Funny," he drawled, nodding to LT to get the door to the conference room for them. They had too much crap in their hands to do this at their desks. "And I'm just saying, this is gonna take a lot longer than you're thinking it will. 'Cause not only do we have to sort, we have to catalog, we gotta hope there's actually _something_ here, and then we hafta worry about where we're gonna put it when we're done. Beckett will have our heads if we leave this in her meeting room."

"We won't leave it in her meeting room." Aragon rolled her eyes. "And clearly you've never packed up a kid's playroom to move before. Trust me, Esposito, I've got this. It won't take more than an hour or two."

"You know, Aragon," Ryan piped up, his breath puffing with the effort of carrying two duffle bags and a box of books, "maybe you should put your money where your mouth is."

"I think Ryan's right," Esposito said, tapping the table. "If it takes more than two hours, you're buying dinner."

Aragon chuckled, dropping her bundle of stuff at the other end of the long table and propping her hand on her hip. "All right, fine. But if it takes less than two, you are buying me dinner. And I'm not talking about buffet with the old folks, Detective Creaky." She gave him a pointed look.

Esposito's lips lifted. She had been calling them both - but mostly him - that all day. Or at least most of the afternoon, since they had grumbled about the strain taking everything to the car would put on their backs. "Yeah, you're on. Get ready to spring for steak."

He watched a smile, less mocking this time, spread across her lips. Working with her was interesting. She was quick, both on the job and with a quip, and she gave as good as she got more often than not. It was fun.

Ryan coughed, drawing their attention to Officers Hernandez and Julian waiting with the rest of the stuff.

"Need anything else, Detectives?" Hernandez asked, settling one of the bags against the wall.

Esposito shook his head. "You're on patrol?"

They nodded, giving their watches a glance. "In twenty," Hernandez added.

"Grab some grub, then head out."

Both officers nodded again, turning on their heels and heading toward the break room.

"Tick tock, Esposito," Aragon called, looking amused when he turned back to face her. She was already unpacking the bags they had brought into the precinct. "Can't dawdle and win. That's the rule."

"Are you accusing me of cheating?" he asked, turning to his partner. "I think she's accusing me of cheating."

Ryan snorted, shaking his head. "Let's just get started, before we get another ca-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Ryan's cell phone chirped from his pocket. Fishing it out, he surveyed his notifications.

"Lanie has something for us. Aragon, you have this, right?"

Aragon groaned. "You planned this, didn't you? You totally planned this."

"And have the chance to get a free dinner? Course we did." Ryan grinned, pocketing his phone. "We'll be back ASAP."

Her eyes narrowed. "Not cool. You're gonna make me do all this on my own?"

Esposito snickered, lifting a shoulder. "Well it could be worse, Aragon. You could be searching through a dumpster in the snow."

Both he and Ryan laughed as they closed the conference room door behind them.

* * *

"Anything yet?" Beckett asked from the bathroom of their suite, raising her voice to be heard over the running water in the sink.

Castle gave the phone he had deposited on the coffee table a look before twisting to catch his wife as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Nothing from Anthony, no," he answered, holding out an arm to beckon her to settle beside him. Kate lifted an eyebrow, but lowered herself into the space he had carved out for her on the chaise, pressing her back into the curve of his shoulder. "He'll call or come by when he has something."

She hated sitting idle during an investigation, he knew, but when they had approached Anthony after leaving the bathroom in Susan Murphy's room, ready to start looking around and asking questions, the hotel manager had balked. There had been enough disruption and he didn't want even more issues by having them approach people unchecked. Instead, Anthony had said he would look into a few people first and then come find them.

Castle didn't like it either - it was counterproductive to beg them to help but not allow them to actually help - but he had agreed. After all, Anthony had promised to give them everything he found out _and_ stay out of their way once they had somewhere to start.

"And while we wait?" Beckett murmured, her eyes falling shut as his hand made gentle circles over her belly. She swatted at him a moment later. "Mmm, stop, you're going to put me to sleep."

Rick grinned, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. "I can fix that. And I can also lessen the boredom of waiting."

One eye peeked open, her lips lifting even as she fought to contain her mirth. "Yeah? How's that?"

"Kate, if I have to explain, we haven't been here long enough," he hummed, dipping his head, catching her huff of laughter in a kiss.

"Still," she started, shifting onto her side, her fingers curling against the fabric of his shirt. "It never hurts to have a remin-"

A knock echoed through the suite, closely followed by Anthony's strained call of their names.

"-der," Beckett finished, dropping her forehead onto his chest. "Remind me again why we agreed to do this?"

"Maybe we subconsciously missed Ryan," he mused, sneaking a short kiss before she could get to her feet.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't dispute the theory. Instead she moved to the door on quiet feet, pulling it open to reveal the younger man.

"Hi Anthony," Beckett greeted, stepping back and inviting him inside. "What do you have for us?"

To Castle's surprise, Anthony's somber look brightened. At first he didn't say a word, he simply held out a sheet of paper to Kate.

"I think you'll want to start with him."

* * *

 _ *** PLEASE NOTE:**_ _As previously announced, we will now be posting each episode over the course of a week, with the final chapter to be posted on Friday. Stay tuned for Chapter Three of this episode, tomorrow night at 10 P.M. Eastern / 9 Central!_


	3. Chapter 3

Although she had wanted to change out of her dress, Beckett had to admit that Castle had been right. Marching up to Raymond Akamu in anything more formal would've been out of place in the bright, tropical bar. It would've put him on the defensive immediately.

Instead, their laid-back vacation clothes worked to their advantage. Nobody blinked an eye as she led her husband by the hand to take two of the open stools in front of the ornately carved bar. Nobody even looked their way as she cozied up to Castle, using the cover of his embrace to scope out the room, surveying both the staff and the patrons alike.

Castle's lips brushed her ear. "Think that's him coming out of the kitchen?"

Kate turned, pressing her cheek to his to get a better look. "Fits the description Anthony gave us."

"Perfect." He lifted his hand, signaling for Raymond's attention. Once he received a nod of acknowledgement, his arm lowered, wrapping around her shoulders, playing the part (not that it took any acting at all) of the doting tourist husband.

After a moment, their person of interest sauntered over to them, a pleasant smile breaking the strong lines of his face.

"Afternoon and welcome. What can I get for you guys?"

While Castle broke the ice, ordering a basket of calamari and passionfruit-flavored iced tea for them both, Beckett studied Akamu out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't older than maybe twenty-five, but he was a large man, his chest well-defined and his biceps toned - that much was obvious through the tight t-shirt he wore. Although the flop of his dark hair made him look boyish, he exuded strength. And if the rumors were true, and he had known Susan Murphy, then it was feasible that he could've caused the injuries they had seen on her body.

"Anything else I can get you?" Akamu asked, turning his smile on her. Beckett straightened, shaking her head.

"No thank you - wait, maybe a salad and some fries as well?" she asked, pressing a hand to her belly. Her daughter kicked in return, almost in thanks for the snack. Raymond nodded, tapping the bar.

"Coming right up."

Castle's thumb brushed her bare arm as their potential suspect passed their order off to the kitchen and moved onto the next patron clamoring for his attention. "What do you think?"

"Definitely the right build to do something like what we saw. We need to figure out how to bring up what happened, though."

Rick hummed. "That's the difficulty with the hotel trying to keep it quiet: if mention it, it's obvious we're fishing. If everyone was talking about it, we would blend right in."

"Guess we'll just have to do a little bit of gossiping of our own, won't we?" she murmured, allowing her voice to rise as she asked him if he had seen the commotion outside the east wing.

Doing his part, Castle shook his head. "I saw the crowd, but I thought it was just a fire drill. What happened?"

Beckett saw Raymond's head tilt, no doubt attempting to filter their conversation out of the commotion around him.

"I heard it was some woman on a bender needing help. And I guess that would make sense, because I saw the police and an ambulance pull up. Another van, too, but you called before I got a look at it."

That seemed to spark the bartender's interest. He inched closer, wiping at the bar beside them before reaching for two small napkins and setting their drinks over the resort logo.

Castle didn't need to feign remorse, though he did lay it on a little thick. "That's too bad. I hope she got the help she needed."

Raymond's fingers twitched at his side. Ah, there it was. The tell. He knew what had really happened, knew Susan was dead. Now they just had to determine if the knowledge came because he had killed her, or because of all-hands staff meeting that had no doubt happened earlier.

Kate turned to him, scooting closer to the edge of the bar stool. "Did you hear anything about it?" she asked, careful to keep her voice light, curious. "Surely they tell you guys things."

The bartender smiled once more, though she could see the strain in his eyes. "It's a difficult situation," he said, giving nothing away. "But we're hoping for the best."

Beside her, Castle nodded. "We are, too. Do you know her? The woman? I imagine you meet a lot of people in this job, but since we've been here, everyone's been so friendly, remembering us, chatting with us wherever we go. So that has to be hard, to see something happen to a guest you know personally."

Raymond gave them a careful look, but nodded. "I've met her a couple of times."

They both nodded in return, sizing him up as well. "Did she seem like the type?"

Raymond frowned. "The type?"

"To go on a bender like they're saying she did?"

The younger man shifted on his feet. "Ah, no. No. Not that I saw. We - _she_ liked to have fun," he added, his voice taking on an interesting, almost sharp edge. "But this is vacation for her; who doesn't like to have a little bit of fun now and then, right?"

Beckett latched onto that. "You guys had fun together, huh? Lucky her."

"I never said that."

She held up a hand. "I'm not judging. That's how this guy and I met. Isn't it, honey?" She forced a cheesy smile, dropping her arm and curling it through Castle's. "I was waitressing in a hotel restaurant and he was at one of my tables, and we just... we fell hard. Now look at us."

Raymond seemed to soften at that, worrying his upper lip between his teeth for a moment before leaning in. "It was stupid. It meant more to me than it did to her. She told me three weeks ago that she was done and I just..."

"You were upset, weren't you?" Castle asked, nodding when the bartender did too. "That feeling is... it's the worst. It's totally understandable to be upset."

"Yeah," the younger man agreed, straightening when a server emerged from the kitchen with a tray of food baskets. "I begged her to take me back, then I got mad. I screamed at her in the hallway in front of half a dozen guests. It wasn't pretty. I'm lucky to still have my job."

Now they were getting somewhere. "Is that why she-" Beckett cut herself off, waiting for Raymond to fill in the blanks on his own.

He exhaled, lifting his shoulders. "I have no idea. I doubt it; she didn't give a crap when she was laughing at me, why would she care almost a month later?"

"Guilt?" Beckett offered, watching his reaction to the word. He didn't even flinch.

"Sue didn't - doesn't - feel guilty about anything. Jeri helped me see that."

Castle's head tilted. "Jeri?"

Raymond brightened a bit. "I met her at the farmer's market while I was suspended. She's an angel."

He lowered his voice, his smile turning sly. "And a devil, too. She barely let me out of the house to come back to work this morning. _If_ you get my drift."

Subtle.

Glancing at her husband, she plastered an amused smile onto her lips, faking a raucous laugh. "Loud and clear. That's what we've been doing all week, too."

Rick's smug grin didn't need to be faked. "Yes we have."

Raymond grinned. "I'll let you eat. Just wave if there's anything else I can do for you."

"Sure thing," Castle answered popping a piece of calamari into his mouth, waiting until Akamu had made his way to the other end of the bar to exhale. "Not him?"

She sighed, dropping a handful of French fries onto the salad she had ordered and taking a bite. "Not him," she agreed, licking salad dressing from her lips. "He never would've volunteered all of that if he had killed her."

"So that rules him out. Do we need to report back to the locals?"

"And tell them what?" Beckett asked, taking another bite. This salad was _really_ good. "That we have nothing so far? Do you want to be the one to tell Rauf that and deal with the smug 'I told you so' he's going to give us?"

"Touché," Castle said, sipping his tea. "Of course, getting more information about time and cause of death might narrow our suspect pool down… so we don't have to listen to another rebounding bartender gush about his farmers market hookup."

"True," Kate agreed on a sigh, biting the bullet and reaching for her phone.

A short time later, they were striding into the Hanalei Medical Examiner's office. According to Detective Rauf, the ME hadn't concluded his autopsy yet, but Doctor Lee had found enough to merit a call. They had just beaten him to it. Supposedly.

"Hopefully Lee will have something for us," Beckett murmured, smoothing her visitor's badge down and adjusting her blazer over her belly. She was going to need to go shopping again soon; this jacket was getting tight.

"Can I be optimistic and say maybe he found hair or fibers that will point us in the right direction?" Castle asked, holding the door to the restricted area of the morgue for her.

She quirked a smile, spotting Detective Rauf at the end of the hallway. "Oh, that would be good, too. Cross your fingers."

Her husband lifted his hand, making a show of doing exactly that. Kate allowed herself to grin for a moment before schooling her face and turning to greet their local PD contact.

"Detective, thank you for letting us come back here."

Curt though it was, Rauf nodded. "You kept up your end of the deal by calling in first, though it wasn't entirely substantial."

Ah, there it was, the attitude she had been expecting.

"We're still working on it from our end," she started, tossing her shoulders back to give herself a small amount of extra height, "but having a little more direction will certainly help."

Rauf eyed them none-too-subtly before gesturing toward the autopsy suite. "After you."

Stepping into the sterile room felt just like home. Only instead of Lanie Parish standing at the table in the middle of the room, Dr. Lee addressed them. This time with a tad more warmth than before - though not much.

"As you can see, I'm still finishing up with her stomach contents, but as I said earlier, this was not accidental, or self-inflicted. During my initial external examination, I found epithelial cells under her fingernails consistent with a possible struggle. I sent them for DNA check and comparison."

"Hopefully that'll be our killer," Rauf said, receiving agreeing nods from Beckett and Castle.

Dr. Lee continued, "I also noticed an interesting coloring around her lips." He motioned for them to come closer, twisting the light to shine directly on their victim's mouth. Under the bright light, they could see the green tinge to her skin.

Well, they hadn't seen that back at the hotel.

"What could have caused that?" Castle asked, jumping in before Kate had the chance.

"If it were bruising, I would say someone had held their hand over her face, but the coloring isn't consistent with that action."

Kate shared a look with her husband. That told them what it wasn't, but not what it was. "A chemical of some sort?" she offered, watching the ME's face.

The older man nodded. "I took a swab and sent that a couple doors down for analysis as well. We should know what it is within the hour."

Beside her, Castle took a deep breath. "So she was poisoned." Off their looks, he added, "Think about it: the chemical around her mouth, the fact that she wasn't breathing when she hit the floor. It fits."

He had a point. He had a good point. Beckett looked between her partner and the ME.

"I'd say that's likely," Dr. Lee agreed, albeit grudgingly. "Although I'm still unsure about the delivery mechanism."

Beckett nodded, giving Susan Murphy's stomach contents a long look. Her own stomach lurched, forcing her to look away. "Will you call once you're finished with the autopsy and you have the test results? It would be easier looking for a suspect if we know whether we're trying to find someone with a container of pills, a bunch of plants, or an eyedropper of toxin."

"I trust Detective Rauf will inform you after I inform him," the doctor said, none too kindly.

Okay then. Message received.

She turned to the detective instead, taking care to remain pleasant as she asked him to keep them in the loop. He nodded, reminding her to do the same.

"Of course. We'll be in touch," she said, tugging on Castle's sleeve with soft fingers.

He followed without protest.

* * *

Maybe they weren't being fair by sticking around at the morgue for a little while, but Aragon had said she had the stuff-sorting well in hand when they checked in, and it was always fun to bother Lanie.

The doctor had already given Ryan and Esposito the information they had come for, but by mutual agreement they had decided to stick around, asking her other questions - some related to their case and some not.

Finally, Lanie cocked her head. "Okay, what are you two still doing here? Are you that bored without Castle around to play with?"

Ryan looked at his partner, turning an innocent smile on their friend. "Of course not. We're just catching up with you, Lanie. We've barely seen you since you got back from Louisiana."

"Uh huh," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "So I bet if I were to call Castle right now, you wouldn't jump at the chance to talk to him."

"Nah, we're good. And besides, you won't call, because you know Beckett and Castle do not want to be distur...bed," Ryan trailed off, blinking down at Lanie's phone in confusion.

Huh. Why was Beckett calling?

"Speak of the devil," Lanie snickered, accepting the call and putting it on speaker phone before either of them could comment. "Hey, Kate. I thought you were off the grid for another few days."

Beckett's laugh echoed through the morgue. "Ah, yeah. I was. But then we were asked to help with something, so I need your thoughts."

Espo moved closer to the phone. "Hey, Captain. Our thoughts? Are you working a case?"

Lanie jumped in. "The boys are here bothering me while I finish up my reports for the night, so I put you on speaker."

"Ahh, and yeah, something like that," Beckett answered after a moment. "We have a woman who was found in her bathroom. She'd hit her head, but that wasn't COD."

"What was?" Lanie asked, cutting in before Ryan could throw out the tease that was on the tip of his tongue.

"We think she was poisoned. We're just not sure with what or exactly how, and the test results aren't back yet."

"Not that we'll probably get to hear them in a timely manner," Castle jumped in, his voice dry even over the phone. "The locals aren't exactly happy to have us help. The detective actually kind of reminds me of Perlmutter, only... nicer."

Ryan snorted. Everyone was nicer than Perlmutter.

"So we were calling to get ideas," Beckett picked up again. "All we really know is she had a greenish residue around her mouth, and whatever it was she was given stopped her breathing before she fell. So... what do you got?"

This time, Ryan couldn't hold his tongue. "Wait, wait a second. You're saying that you and Castle are on vacation - a vacation to help you recharge and get ready for your baby - and you've ended up trying to solve a murder?"

Beckett sighed. "Yes, Ryan. That's what I'm saying."

"You really can't get away from it, can you?"

His boss snorted. "Apparently not. We were going to stay out of it, but the resort asked for help and I couldn't exactly say no. So, help us get it done sooner and we can go back to being on vacation."

"Okay," Lanie exhaled. "Do you know if she had eaten recently?"

"We got a look at the stomach contents," Castle answered, his disgust obvious. "They seemed pretty fresh for being, well, stomach contents."

"Okay, so administration method was most likely through food or a drink of some sort. I would say the poison was probably administered as a liquid, or a crushed pill. The green residue could be food itself or it could be residue from the poison itself."

"Any idea what she might have ingested?"

"Could be anything from a large dose of sedatives to something organic like digitalis. Without looking at her tox screen myself, I can't really be sure."

Beckett exhaled. "Thanks, Lanie. Thanks, guys. We'll bring back presents for you."

"Make 'em good," Esposito called, smirking.

Lanie shook her head, rolling her eyes in their direction. "I'll let you know if I think of anything else, honey."

"You're the best."

The three of them snickered as the call cut off.

"Leave it to those two," Ryan murmured, shaking his head.

"It does always seem to find them, doesn't it?" Lanie mused. "But oh, speaking of preparing for the baby, I'm thinking about throwing her a shower at the precinct. Can I count on your help?"

Ryan looked at his partner. "Ah, um, do you really want to do that? I wasn't much help with Jenny's last year. In fact, I remember the two of you actually telling me to stop helping."

"And you know me, Lanie," Esposito hedged. "I'm-"

She rolled her eyes. "Just think about it, okay? You're her friends, their friends, too, and I don't want to put it all on Martha and Alexis. Especially since they're probably throwing her a shower outside of work."

"True," Espo agreed, "but-"

The foghorn that constituted his text ringer cut him off. Ryan watched him unclip the phone from his belt.

"That's Aragon. She's got something for us. We'll talk about this later."

Lanie sighed, waving them off. "Sure it was. Just think about it, okay? Your help would be appreciated."

Ryan let his partner duck out first, turning back quickly. "We'll think about it, Lanie."

"Good. Now get outta here."


	4. Chapter 4

Calling Hayley was his idea.

After returning from the meeting at the morgue, and then talking to Lanie and the boys, he and Kate had debated the best course of action. They needed to talk to Anthony again, but so far Castle's text to the day manager had gone unanswered. Thus, instead of sitting around waiting, he'd made the decision to contact their friend to find out more about Susan Murphy.

"Well, look who's calling," Hayley teased when she picked up. "Alexis said you were in Hawaii; did you get back already?"

"Ah no, not yet. We're still here for a few days, but I have a favor to ask of you? If you're not swamped, that is."

"Oh dear, what have you gotten yourselves into now, Rick?"

From her spot curled beside him, Kate snorted. "We're not in trouble, Hayley," she called, leaning her cheek on his arm. Castle turned, pressing his lips to her hair. "We're helping the resort with a case."

"Do you two ever rest?"

"Hey," Rick protested, feeling the vibration of his wife's chuckle through his shirt. "We've rested. We are resting. We're just multitasking as we rest."

Hayley sighed in his ear. "Okay, what is it?"

Careful not to sound too triumphant, he told her the victim's name. "She's from New York and she splits her time between there and here. That's really all we know right now."

"And you want to know what?"

"If she had any outstanding issues back home. Any complaints against her, anyone who might have a reason to want her dead," Kate answered for him, sitting up a bit. Her fingertip poked her belly, no doubt nudging their kickboxing, soccer-playing, tap-dancing daughter in hopes of calming her down. "She had a thing with a bartender here at the resort and broke it off with him, so if she has any jealous exes, that might be a place to start."

"All right, give me a minute. Let's see what Ms. Murphy's records have to say."

"Thank you, Hayley," Kate called. "I know you're busy."

"Actually, today's a fairly light day. I wrapped one case last night, and I'm waiting to hear back from a contact for another. So really, you called at a perfect time."

"Well, that was good timing on our part," Rick said, listening to the clatter of Hayley's fingers on the keyboard.

Not for the first time, he was reminded why it had been a good idea to turn his P.I. business over to her. As much as he loved the cool toys and the amazing office, she had a passion for the work in ways he didn't. Not that he wasn't committed to finding bad people and making sure good ones got justice, but his place was with Beckett, with the boys at the 12th.

"Okay," Hayley said a few minutes later. "Susan Murphy was the CFO of a fairly large tech firm in Manhattan. No relationships listed in her file; she's never been married and has no children. Good credit it seems, no sign of any massive debts."

That didn't exactly sound promising, but at least it helped to rule things out.

Kate echoed the sentiment, asking their friend to continue.

"Her driving record came up clean as well, but here's an interesting piece: she's in the middle of a lawsuit with a woman named Catriona Mooney. And it's for a lot of money."

Castle straightened, sharing a look with his wife. Now they were getting somewhere.

"Can you look into this Catriona? Find out if she has the resources to hire someone?"

Hayley chuckled. "I can do better than that. Catriona Mooney boarded a plane three days ago. To Kauai, Hawaii. There's a hold on her credit card for a room at Hanalei Winds Resort and Spa. And it looks like she's already spent quite a bit of time and money at a pool bar."

Beckett grinned, taking the phone from his hand. "Thank you, Hayley. We owe you one."

"Well, I am partial to Macadamia nuts... just in case you were wondering."

"Noted," Kate said, her smile in her voice.

"I'll email you a photo so you know who you're looking for."

"Perfect." Castle waited until Kate had ended the call to clap his hands together. "Well, Captain, what do you say we go for a swim before dinner? I will even offer my services as an excellent waiter and bring you a drink. Nonalcoholic, of course."

"Sure, rub it in." Kate leaned closer, fingers tripping up the buttons on his shirt as she lifted her head to brush her mouth over his. "I think that could be arranged. I'll grab the towels."

* * *

"See anything?"

When they first stepped onto the crowded pool deck, they had made a quick visual pass, searching for signs of the petite brunette from the picture Hayley had sent. Having come up empty, Beckett had claimed one of the open chairs at the far end, giving them excellent visual advantage as well as a warm stream of sunlight to enjoy. So far their suspect had yet to show.

Licking her lips, Kate turned the page in her novel, giving her head a tiny shake in reply. "Nothing yet. But it's earlier than Hayley said most of the charges have been, so she could still be coming."

"Or she could have left in the middle of the night after poisoning Susan," Castle mused. "After all, why stick around to get caught?"

Kate's lips lifted. "Because running away makes you look guilty. And," she paused, glancing at the photo Rick has called up on his phone, "I don't think Catriona wants to make herself look guilty. Look at the woman leaving the bar right now. That her?"

Her husband glanced around, trying not to settle for too long on any one person. "Looks like it. I'll go for a refill for us?"

He twisted to the side, putting his feet flat on the pool deck as he reached for her nearly empty milkshake glass. Beckett held it away, slurping the final dregs through the straw. "Why don't I get that, babe?"

Catriona barely gave her a second glance as she stepped across the concrete, jolting only when Beckett made herself at home on the lounge chair beside hers.

"Catriona Mooney?"

The other woman's eyes narrowed, sweeping down from Kate's face, taking in her one-piece swimsuit and the swell of her stomach. "Do I know you?"

"No," Beckett shook her head. "But I think we need to have a conversation. About Susan Murphy."

Catriona's jaw dropped. "Oh, that is _low_ ," she scoffed. "Did that bitch put you up to this? To harassing me at the pool? She did, didn't she? And she sent a _pregnant_ woman, no less. That's just pathetic."

Biting back an unpleasant reply to that, Beckett shook her head. "Susan didn't put me up to anything."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"I'm with the NYPD," Beckett continued, cutting off whatever venom-filled words Mooney might have had for her next. "Susan Murphy is dead, Catriona. Her body was found this morning."

Kate watched Catriona's eyes flare wide at the news. She saw some of the irritated flush drain from the woman's cheeks, but Mooney clenched her jaw, swallowed hard, and said nothing.

"And judging by your anger, and that nasty set of scratches on your arm, I think it's safe to say you had something to do with it."

"You've got to be kidding me." Mooney's voice rose. "I had nothing to do with that horrible woman's de-"

Castle dropped onto the lounger at Kate's hip. "Hi, hello. I'm Richard Castle, I'm with her. Why don't we talk somewhere a little more private? Before the entire pool overhears."

"No," Catriona snapped. "No, I think we should let them overhear. Because, police or not, I think you're accusing me of something I didn't do. And I have a right to defend myself."

Beckett lifted a hand, trying to defuse the situation as best she could. "Why don't you tell us what you know about Susan. I take it you've seen her during your stay?"

"Unfortunately. Look, I hate her. She absolutely ruined my life. She reported me to the board for misappropriation of funds when it was _her_ mistake. She was in too much of a rush to get to her _island getaway_ and she put the money in the wrong account. By the time anyone realized, it was too late and it was gone, and instead of owning it, she dumped the blame on me, got me fired, and now _I_ get to try to make ends meet."

"So you followed her and you confronted her. The two of you fought, and then you killed her," Castle prompted.

Mooney sat up. "You're insane. I followed her to tell that coward that she can't hide out in Hawaii forever; she has to respond to my lawyer sometime. And the scratches? The bitch attacked _me_ and scratched _me_ , and I left because I knew she would find a way to make that my fault, too. But I didn't kill her. I wanted her to pay for what she did to me - literally pay. She can't do that if she's dead, can she?"

Beckett's eyes slid to Castle, one eyebrow arching. Did he believe Catriona? She wasn't sure she did.

"Where were you last night?" he asked. "Around 11:00 P.M.?"

Catriona's smile turned mocking once more. "A dinner cruise. Booked through the concierge here. You can check on that, I'm sure. And I went home with a guy from the cruise. Got back to the hotel just a few hours ago. I'm sure you can figure out some way to corroborate that, too."

With that, she got to her feet, yanking the salmon-colored sarong from the top of the chair, and stormed off. It didn't escape Beckett's notice that more than a few eyes followed Catriona as she went.

"Well," Castle started, surveying the rest of the pool area, trying to dispel their unwanted attention with polite smiles. "That went well."

Sifting her fingers through her hair, Kate could only snort.

"We need to go back to our room and regroup," she said, watching her husband stand and offer her his hand. "What are you doing?"

Rick wiggled his fingers. "Taking you swimming first. Come on."

Unable to smother a smile, she slipped her hand into his grip and allowed him to pull her from the chair.

* * *

It was late, but the day was looking up.

Not only had Lanie given Ryan and Esposito hope by confirming that the saliva found on their victim was from a male, in the chaos of the junk they had brought back from their victim's, Aragon had somehow managed to unearth exactly what they needed: a recent photograph - a chummy photograph, no less - of the victim with a man who had claimed to have never seen her before in his life. A man who had strong motive to kill Anita Ramirez.

They had already put in their request with a judge to compel the guy for a DNA sample based on what they had learned, and a team of unis had been sent to keep an eye on his place, lest he skip town while they waited for the warrant to come through.

"That really was a good catch, Aragon," Esposito praised, dropping another broken trinket into the bag they had designated for the garbage. With no family to speak of, the rest of Anita Ramirez's things would be boxed up and placed in storage. It was a tedious process, but they were managing to get through it pretty fast.

Aragon's lips lifted. "Don't sound so surprised, Esposito. I am fairly good at the details. Plus, I've found enough toys in the laundry to remember to check pockets before throwing things into the wash."

Esposito snorted, his hands closing around a pile of keeper items. Ryan had already taken one box down to storage, their mostly-itemized list taped to the top. This one would be his responsibility. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I meant it as a compliment, though. You and Lanie kept us from spinning our wheels and going in circles."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aragon's head dip, a soft smile taking over her face. "You really think we got the guy?" she asked after a moment.

He nodded. "Yeah. My gut told me it was him from the beginning."

"Well, if your gut tells you so," she joked, lifting her chin a moment later. "I'm glad I could help."

"Yeah, me too," he said, tossing another piece of junk into the garbage bag. "And not just because it means I only have to sort this crap once."

Her laughter bounced around the conference room, lifting his spirit a little higher. "I'd hate to see what your place looks like, Javi, if you think sorting only happens once."

Esposito blinked. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

"His place is a bachelor pad, Aragon," Ryan drawled, stepping into the conference room, saving him from the awkward gape and silence he was mastering. "So it's exactly what you're picturing."

"It is _not_. Yeah, I gotta do a little bit of cleaning, but that's easy. And I do that normally."

Both Ryan and Aragon scoffed, reaching for more junk.

"What? I do," Esposito insisted. "Once a week. Most of the time."

Marisa laughed again, rolling her eyes. "My kid does better than that. Or he doesn't get to watch TV."

"Well hey," Ryan started, looking gleeful at the prospect of giving Esposito an even harder time. "Maybe you can teach Javi that system."

"Shut up," he groused, chucking a crumpled piece of paper at his partner's head. Ryan ducked it easily, catching the ball and throwing it right back.

Across from them, he saw Aragon's head shake. "Well, while you two play, I'm going to get back to work."

* * *

"So it wasn't Catriona," Beckett sighed as they stepped back into their suite, shivering at the rush of air from the fan over her skin. It had been warm enough during the day that they'd appreciated the extra airflow, but since the sun had begun to set, it was no longer necessary. Especially since they were still in their damp bathing suits from their swim.

Reaching around her back, Castle flicked the switch to kill the fan, pressing a warm kiss into the crook of his wife's neck in the process. She shivered (for an entirely different reason this time, he hoped), but didn't step away from him.

"Unless she made the reservations and didn't go," he offered. His arms wound around her, cradling her belly between his palms. Kate hummed, trusting him to keep her from falling as she leaned back against him.

"And the cruise line was lying to the concierge when he called?" she asked, covering his hands. She had a point; they had watched the man call to confirm that Catriona had actually gotten on the boat. "As much as I hate to say it, I think we're back to square one."

He hated to hear the frustration in her voice, the annoyance that came from being stuck on this case. This case that wasn't even truly theirs. "Maybe so," he said, sliding his thumb over her stomach, hearing the swish of her bathing suit against his skin instead of the soft slip of her skin. "But it's still a square on the board."

Kate spun in his embrace, her arms winding around his neck, their daughter pressed snugly between them. "Yeah it is," she agreed.

"Mhmm, so why don't we put this away for the night, get cleaned up, and go to dinner?" he murmured. "Then we can pick it up bright and early. Well, maybe not too early," Rick amended, watching inspiration flash in her eyes. What had he said?

"No, not too early," Kate hummed, pressing her mouth to his before he could ask what she had just realized. He opened to her without hesitation, his breath ragged when she pulled away. "Because now I know exactly who we need to talk to."


	5. Chapter 5

Stepping out of the shower in the morning to hear Kate in the middle of a conversation caused Castle's brow to furrow. She had been the first out of the bathroom, leaving him clumsy and grinning stupidly under the spray, but he hadn't expected her to jump back into their investigation just yet.

"We're still on. As long as you are, of course. If you have plans, we can always take a-" she cut off, no doubt listening to the person on the other end. "I just don't want you or Martha to have to rearrange your plans to come get us."

Ah, she was talking to Alexis. His daughter and mother had offered to be their welcoming committee at the airport in a few days, instead of making them deal with taking a cab or the car service after traveling for more than half the day. Kate must've decided to finalize plans.

"Your dad and I don't mind having to find our own way home, Alexis, I promise. Okay, okay. Point taken," she laughed, sending affection surging through his limbs. After all of the bumps over the years, it was more than good to see the relationship his wife and his eldest daughter had forged. "In that case, we will see you at the airport. And we won't try to sneak away and stay in paradise instead."

Castle snorted. Not that the thought hadn't crossed his mind. Or hers.

Kate chuckled again, and he let the sound of her happiness draw him into their bedroom. He found her standing by the sliding door to the lanai, dressed in dark leggings and a tunic the color of the sunset, the damp curls of her hair tumbling over her shoulders, her phone at her ear. His heart stumbled in his chest, tripping into his throat. She was radiant.

"Yeah, he just walked in. Want me to pass you over? Ahh, okay. I'll let him know." Beckett turned, catching him as he tried to look casual about gazing at her. Her smile softened, beckoning him closer. She mouthed 'call Alexis later,' but didn't give up the phone.

"I see how it is," he said, faking a sigh. "You get the phone calls; I get the orders to call back later."

Kate laughed again, patting his chest with mock-sympathy before returning her attention to her phone call. "Kicking me like crazy most of the time. She's going to be a black belt in karate before she's even born."

Although they hadn't told everyone, they hadn't been able to keep themselves from telling their immediate family that they were having a girl. First it had slipped out with Jim, then with his mother and Alexis. After that, the decision to tell Lanie and the boys had been easy.

His hand brushed the swell of her abdomen, waiting to see if their daughter was practicing her moves again. When no answering kick came, he dipped his head, bumping a kiss where she was usually most active.

"I'm going to get changed," he murmured for Kate's benefit, jumping when she hooked a finger beneath the edge of his towel. "Then we can track down your lead."

"Good," she agreed in a whisper, covering the microphone with her hand before knocking a kiss to his lips.

He moved to the dresser for his clothing as she turned back to her phone call with Alexis.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were striding into the sun, searching out the one person they hadn't spoken to after being brought in to work Susan Murphy's murder: the person who had found her.

Detective Rauf hadn't shared details about what she had said in her interview with the cops, and though they had heard the story secondhand from Anthony as he brought them up to speed, the woman who had actually discovered Susan's body had been sent home for the day by the time they'd started to investigate. They hoped she would be back today, but if she wasn't, they were going to need her address. Hearing the story from her was important to know where they were going wrong.

Thankfully, the rumor mill had continued to thrive overnight, and not only were they able to ask a member of the resort's custodial staff if he knew who had found Susan Murphy's body, their new friend Konane was all too happy to provide them with the woman's name, general location, and a brief character history.

"Rosie's a sweetheart," he said. "We started around the same time a long, long time ago. She was on laundry detail at first, washing the towels and the linens for the entire resort. Practically by herself, too. I was mopping floors."

Castle nodded easily. He liked this guy.

"She got promoted to doing rooms pretty fast," Konane continued, "And then a few years ago she got promoted again."

Kate smiled. "Sounds like you admire her."

Konane laughed. "Everybody does. She works hard, pulls more than double her weight most of the time. She picks up shifts for people when they need it. She might be a supervisor, but she definitely doesn't act like it. In fact, a couple months ago, she actually started letting her, I guess you could call her an assistant, handle more, and she went back to doing the rounds every day like before."

"Why is that?" Beckett asked, tilting her head.

Konane shook his head. "I have no idea. But if you're looking for her, you won't find her in the office doing paperwork and supply requests. She's out right now, getting things ready for check-in later."

"Any idea where we can find her?" Castle asked. "Which building, I mean."

The other man shook his head again. "She gets the list and goes building to building. But I will tell you, she usually starts at the far end of the compound and works her way in."

"When did she start?"

Konane glanced at his watch, then lifted his eyes skyward as he mentally counted. "'Bout two hours ago. Depending on how many rooms are on the list…"

Rick nodded, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. "We'll find her. Thank you, Konane. For taking the time to talk to us."

He pressed a twenty into the man's hand, ignoring his protests that it was not necessary.

"For your time, and for being fun to talk to," he explained. "Thank you."

Kate echoed the thanks, slipping her arm through his and stepping toward the door.

It took some time to locate Rosie, but after taking a gamble on which building to check first, Castle was certain they had found their woman. With her soft features and her hair in a tight bun, Rosie Laka looked almost delicate. Even as she manhandled a housekeeping cart off the elevator, she did so with an unexpected grace.

"Rosie?" Castle called, careful not to startle her. She nodded, giving the cart a push into a corner before turning to face them. "Hi, I'm Rick Castle and this is Captain Beckett, we're working with the Hanalei PD to figure out what happened to Susan Murphy."

Rosie's eyes darted behind him, as if checking for guests or someone who might overhear. "I already told the police everything yesterday morning."

Beckett's smile was pleasant when she stepped shoulder to shoulder with him, walling Rosie off in a way. "We know you did, Rosie, but we're consulting with them and we're hoping maybe you can tell us again? We're trying to get this resolved quickly, but correctly. So if you wouldn't mind indulging us, we would be quite grateful."

The other woman exhaled, nodding. "Come with me; I need to finish my rounds while we talk. We have a large group checking in at the end of the day."

"Of course," they spoke as one, knocking affectionate elbows together when Rosie turned away.

"Can you tell us what happened yesterday morning?" Kate asked, following Rosie into a room one hall down.

"Ms. Murphy had requested fresh, warm towels before her early yoga session. I was taking them to her, but she didn't answer the door when I knocked. She had been very specific about the towels, so I had to make sure she got them. After a few minutes, I used my key and let myself in. The end table light was on, but Ms. Murphy was nowhere to be found in the main room, and she didn't answer when I called. So I assumed she was either out of the suite already or in a deep sleep."

Castle and Beckett nodded in unison, encouraging her to continue. Rosie picked up a rag and a bottle of cleanser, moving to the large windows at the opposite end of the room.

"So I went to put the towels in the bathroom. The door was closed when I got there, and once I pulled it open, I saw her, her body and the... the blood, and I dropped the towels and screamed for help."

"That's all?" Beckett asked, careful to keep her voice calm. "You didn't touch the body to check for a pulse?"

Rosie shook her head. "No, no. I... her eyes were open, she looked like she had... I didn't touch her."

They nodded again, watching her movements grow less graceful, more jerky.

"What else can you tell us, Rosie?" Castle asked, picking up when Beckett backed off. "Did you know her well?"

Rosie shook her head again.

"Are you sure? She was a long-term guest, I'm sure you had dealt with her before."

"Well, yes. Of course I had. But I wasn't friendly with her. At all."

Castle shared a look with his wife. "Tell us about that," he requested.

"About what?" Rosie asked, turning back to face them.

"About how friendly you weren't with Ms. Murphy," Kate supplied, moving closer to her. Rick squared his shoulders, ignoring the urge to join them; even if Rosie had hurt Susan Murphy, she wouldn't be stupid enough to harm a pregnant woman, not with someone else in the room.

Laka's hand dropped from the window, the rag swinging from her fingers. She swallowed hard, shaking her head. "This is... we're not supposed to have opinions about the guests, but she was an absolute nightmare."

"How so?" Beckett asked, though even Rick could tell she wasn't surprised by that information.

"Rude? Demanding? In this job, I'm used to people looking through me. It's about their own rest, having everything at their fingertips, and I get that. But Ms. Murphy went… beyond that. She treated us all like dirt. And when things weren't done the way she wanted? Or as quickly as she wanted them to be done? She went to management, and she filed complaint after complaint."

"Was that why you stopped doing supervisory work?" Castle asked, recalling Konane's words about the recent change in Rosie's role.

She pursed her lips. "Good old _Sue_ accused me of stealing and reported me. I didn't, of course; she'd just gotten drunk and left her expensive sunglasses at her boy toy of the week's apartment. But because a guest complaint had been filed, I was basically demoted."

Huh. Castle shared a look with his wife, closing the distance between them with a couple of short strides. If you asked him, that was a pretty good motive for murder.

Rosie watched him approach, her eyes widening. "And I know, I know now that I told you that, you probably think I lied about how I found her, and that I killed her. But I didn't. She's - was - a witch, but I didn't kill her."

Kate's head tilted. "Rosie, we want to believe you, but-"

"But?" she cried, incredulous. "I've never even had a parking ticket. I teach Catechism at church on Sundays. Being demoted sent me into a spiral so bad I cried all night and sat on my couch and ate Chunky Monkey until I couldn't sit up."

"Where were you when she was killed?" Rick asked.

"I was with my sister and her kids all night, and I left from their place to come to work early to deliver those damn towels." Her eyes beseeched them to understand, to give her the benefit of the doubt. "You can check the security cameras, or the keycard readers or something, can't you?"

He felt himself softening. Having a grudge didn't make her guilty, not even close.

"You have to believe me," she begged. "I wouldn't kill her - I wouldn't kill anyone. I don't have the stomach for it."

Almost immediately, something tugged at his brain. Some detail he couldn't quite reach just yet.

A glance at Beckett revealed she was wearing a similar expression.

"What?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"Something... She doesn't have the stomach for it," Kate repeated, mulling over the words. Her brow furrowed in thought. "You said the light was on when you went into the room," she said, looking back at Rosie.

The other woman nodded. "The one closest to the lanai. A blanket was tossed on the chaise, and there was a room service tray on the end of it, too. I remember because, well, it's my job to clean these things up."

Castle blinked. He didn't remember seeing a room service tray when he'd looked around while Beckett was smoothing things over with the manager and the local police.

Room service. Stomach. Stomach contents.

He twisted, coming face to face with Beckett. God, he loved when they were on the same wavelength.

"That's how she was poisoned."

"There was no tray in the room," he said, watching delight lick at her features. "Which means someone had to remove it after Rosie was in there."

"Someone like our killer," Kate confirmed, taking a step closer to him. He reached for her instinctively, cradling her hips in his hands.

"That narrows it down pretty far. How many room service attendants were on shift that night? Five?"

Rosie cleared her throat, startling them apart. Rick's hands dropped from his wife's hips. "Fewer than that, actually. Susan had complained about, terrorized, or reported everyone else at least once. Because of that, all of her room service items were personally prepared and delivered by one person."

Off their looks, Rosie continued, "Davis Keon, our night manager."


	6. Chapter 6

"How much do you want to bet that he's going to run?"

Beside him, Beckett rolled her eyes, but never slowed her pace. "Not much of a bet, Castle. We didn't see him last night on the way back from the pool; he was probably gone already."

Rick shook his head, expanding his lungs on a deep inhale. "We didn't have anything yesterday. And as Rauf said, they were still waiting on labs then, so neither did the cops. He's there."

"And if he's not?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. "What do I win?"

"The world's greatest backrub from the world's sexiest husband?"

Kate laughed, pitching sideways to catch his jaw with her lips. "I get those already. Clooney's so talented."

"You wound me," he said, pressing his palm to his chest, grateful now that they could joke about something like that. "But I love you, so I forgive you."

His wife grinned, pressing her smile against his cheek for another moment before she stepped back and continued their walk across the resort compound.

"Plus," he continued, "since I'm going to win, it won't even matter."

"Uh huh. Okay, hotshot, what do _you_ want in the unlikely event of you winning?"

Castle palmed her back, somehow managing not to trip them both up as he crowded into her space. "Although I already have everything I could ever ask for-" He waited for her snicker to conclude. "-I wouldn't mind one of your amazing neck rubs."

That made her cheeks darken and her smile grow wider.

"Okay," she agreed, sealing the bargain with a hard peck on his lips. "You're on. Now let's go get our killer."

He grinned, falling in step with her as they rounded the final corner to the open-air lobby.

Detective Rauf and two uniformed officers were waiting for them, just out of visibility of the desk. The detective nodded to them both in greeting, looking almost pleased to see them. Or as pleased as Castle suspected he could look when they had pretty much solved his case for him. Less chagrined, at least.

"We sent someone in to make sure he was still there."

"Was he?" Beckett asked, glancing toward the desk.

The detective nodded. "At his desk still. In the back office."

Rick did his best to contain his triumph, but the snort his wife released told him Kate wasn't fooled.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

Rauf gestured to the other officers. "We'll go in the back to avoid making a scene and walk him out the same way."

"You don't think he'll run?" Castle asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No." Rauf's lips pursed in annoyance at being questioned. "He'll come pretty quietly, I think. But," he added, "you're welcome to wait out front just in case."

"No thanks," he said quickly. "I'll come with you."

The detective nodded, looking at both of his guys. "All right then. Let's go."

Without another word, the five of them made their way around back to the employee entrance, Castle and Beckett trailing behind the cops while they located Davis Keon's office. No sooner had they stepped inside than Davis came running out, knocking his shoulder into the doorframe before practically mowing Castle down.

Without bothering to look back, Davis made a break for the front desk. Castle took off, hot on his heels, trusting Beckett and the other cops to follow him.

"Told you he would run!" he called, knowing without looking over his shoulder that his wife was rolling her eyes.

"Stop gloating and just catch him, Castle!"

Davis darted around a corner, barreling over anyone in his path. Rick followed, steadying one of the shaken employees before slipping around the desk and spilling out into the lobby area.

The night manager was already headed toward the parking lot, shoving new guests out of his way without a second thought. Absurdly glad he had chosen to wear regular loafers instead of the slip on sandals he'd been sporting for most of his vacation, Castle scrambled across the tile, using one last burst of speed to get him within lunging distance.

He hit Keon's back, bracketing his arms around the man to keep him from swinging as they landed in a heap on the floor with a dull thud.

"Ow, damn it," Davis grumbled from the tile. "I was just going to talk to the valet! I do have a hotel to run, you know."

Rick pretended to think about the excuse. "I'm really not sure the valet provides getaway cars, Davis. Which is too bad for you, really. But, you know, a detail like that would make a _great_ addition to my next book."

Castle got to his feet, making sure Davis wouldn't take off if his grip slackened at all. Thankfully, the other man didn't argue, instead hunching his shoulders and lowering his head to avoid the stares from the crowd of onlookers.

Twisting, Rick found himself face-to-face with Beckett and the trio from the local police department.

"Hey guys," he greeted. "Thought you said he wasn't going to run?"

Although she rolled her eyes at his dig, Beckett offered him a proud smile before stepping back to allow Detective Rauf to take over.

"Davis Keon, you are under arrest for the murder of Susan Murphy," Rauf announced, slapping the cuffs around his wrists and nudging him to start walking. "You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to waive this right, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney at any point during questioning. If you cannot afford one, you will be provided with counsel at no expense to you. Do you understand these rights?"

"Yes. But wait, just… just wait. You have to understand."

"Understand what, Mr. Keon?" Beckett asked, ignoring the detective's look. Davis was talking and he hadn't asked for an attorney; they were going to keep him talking, even if they had to do it as they walked to the squad car.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. She was a menace. Our staff were leaving left and right, our guests were starting to go, too. The only people who liked her were the bartenders and the tennis instructors she was sleeping with."

Castle shared a glance with his wife. "You know, I'm no expert, but I distinctly remember being thrown out of a hotel before; I'm not sure murder is necessary."

Keon shook his head. "She knew the owner. There was no asking her to leave. None. We've tried. The woman who had Anthony's job before him? That's why she's gone."

Beckett's eyebrows jumped. "So instead you decided to poison a guest?"

The other man's chest heaved. "I thought if… I thought if she looked like she had died in her sleep… that would be that. So I mixed the digitalis in her nightly smoothie, I took it to her like always, and I left." He cleared his throat. "I should've known she wouldn't just go quietly. When Rosie found her body… I panicked."

"I'll say," Castle jumped in, nodding to the detectives. "Well, Detective Rauf, I think Mr. Keon is ready to check into holding."

Beside him, Beckett groaned, but he saw the amused smile flirting at her lips anyway. Yeah, she loved the one-liners, whether she admitted it or not.

Rauf, on the other hand, did not seem to appreciate his humor as much. But he still shook their hands and - astoundingly - thanked them for their help while his officers loaded Davis into the back of the squad car.

"Nice tackle back there," Beckett murmured as they watched the cops pull away.

Pride warmed his chest. "I try."

Kate grinned, slipping her arm through his before lifting onto her toes to brush a kiss over his cheek. "You succeed. Now," she added, tugging him onto the path to their building. "I think I owe you a neck rub."

* * *

Usually after getting a confession, Esposito's phone went pretty quiet. Not so much today. So far he had fielded three calls from the ADA about the case they had just closed, and two more from defense attorneys for other clients in other cases.

Plus there was Lanie. He knew she had called Ryan, too, but neither of them had been able to call her back yet. He would, of course, but he would also tell her he had no idea what went into planning a baby shower. Ryan knew better than he did, but even the low-key thing they had thrown for Jenny last spring had been planned largely by someone other than his partner.

"Yo, what're you going to tell Lanie?" he asked, tossing a paper clip across his desk to get Ryan's attention.

His partner looked up from his paperwork, brow furrowed a bit. "What do you mean what am I gonna tell her? We're gonna help."

"Uh huh. But you know that I don't know the first thing about actually planning this stuff." Music he could do. Dancing? Yeah, he'd got that, too. But diaper changing games? Maybe not.

Kevin lifted a shoulder. "So? It's Beckett. We just make it nice. Nothing crazy. Jenny will help, Lanie will help-"

"I'll help."

Both men turned to find Marisa Aragon beside their desks, a file in her hand. Esposito didn't have to ask how she'd known what they were talking about; he remembered her ability to read lips.

Still, their stares must have made her self-conscious, because she lifted a shoulder. "What? I have a kid. I know what happens at baby showers. Besides, the captain and Castle have been great since I've been here. It'd be nice to say thanks."

A smile worked its way onto Esposito's lips. "Yeah, you're right."

"Yeah, I know I am." She grinned, passing the file along. "My patrol report. I'm heading out."

Esposito took it with a quiet thanks.

"Anyway, call Lanie back. Tell her the three of us are in, and I can keep you two in line if I need to."

Ryan laughed. "You might need to keep this guy in line."

"Nah uh," Esposito argued. "This guy right here was told to stop helping for his own kid's shower because he had _too many_ ideas."

Aragon's laugh said more than a reply ever could. "Well, either way, I'm here to help. Just let me know."

They both nodded, but it was Ryan who answered, "Okay, we will. Thanks."

She offered them a lopsided smile. "Sure. Good night."

"Night," they echoed.

Esposito watched as she made her way toward the back staircase, turning back to find his partner studying him.

"What?" he asked, tossing Aragon's report onto the pile at one end of his desk. He would glance through them before he left, then leave them on Beckett's desk for her to see when she got back.

Ryan nodded toward the stairs. "You should go after her."

"What? Why?"

"Javi," he chided. "I've been watching you two since she started here. I remember you talking about her after you and Lanie broke up. Ask her out already."

He sputtered, feeling his cheeks heat at the reminder. "I don't know what you're talking about. I - and besides, it's against regs anyway."

Kevin snorted. "You think the captain's gonna care about that, provided you two don't screw it up and make life miserable for each other and everyone else? Ask Aragon out."

"I-"

"Probably have another two minutes before she's out of the building. Go."

He was on his feet and pocketing his phone before it really registered what he was about to do. "Fine. But if she says no-"

"-Which she won't," Ryan answered. Already he looked smug.

"But if she does, I'm putting this on you."

"That's fine," his partner said, lifting his phone. "I'll be here calling Lanie."

Narrowing his eyes, Esposito turned on his heel, moving toward the staircase in hopes of catching Aragon before she made it too far.

* * *

"So," Castle started, pulling her attention away from the tablet in her hands. Her husband smiled, lowering a tray with two bowls of elaborately topped vanilla ice cream - personally retrieved from one of the hotel restaurants before they closed, because they were swearing off room service for a little while - to the table adjacent to her chair before taking his spot beside her. "Tomorrow night we head home; is there anything else you wanted to do before we leave?"

Though she had to think for a moment, in the end she shook her head. "I would say we've had a fairly eventful couple of days, wouldn't you?"

Rick chuckled, reaching over her for his bowl. "You are more than correct."

"Mhmm," she drawled, handing him a spoon as she lifted her own ice cream from the tray. "So I think tomorrow should be a lazy day. Packing, another swim or two."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him nod his agreement. "Perfect."

Kate smiled, digging into her treat, making sure to catch both a gummy bear and a chocolate chip on the spoon. Beside her, Castle did the same.

"What were you reading when I came in?" her husband asked a few minutes later, nodding to the now-dark tablet resting against her belly.

"Oh," she said, bringing it back to life to show him. "I was looking at this stuff."

"Furniture for the nursery?" he asked, though it was more rhetorical than anything else. She wouldn't be contemplating decorating any other room in the house with baby furniture and brightly patterned crib bumpers.

"Yeah," Kate breathed. "I know Lanie and your mom and Alexis are probably all planning some sort of shower or something, but I thought maybe we should pick at least a few things ourselves. Or a color scheme, if nothing else. But I don't really think it's fair to ask anyone else to buy our furniture."

Her husband nodded, scrolling through the page. "I agree. We should get the big stuff. Then we can ask the others to buy some of the decorations. Plus the clothes and the toys. Though nobody will be able to top the mini-Kevlar I saved from last year."

Beckett grinned, unable to stop herself from teasing him. "Re-gifting to your own child, tsk tsk."

"Hey," he defended. "I think it suits us perfectly, don't you?"

Well, he had her there. Not that she was ever going to dress her daughter in that thing, but it was still a gift that felt uniquely 'them.' "Yeah, yeah."

Castle grinned, pressing his cold lips against hers quickly.

"Kay," she exhaled once they parted, taking another bite. "I like this." She pointed to one of the cribs. "In the soft gray."

"Me too," Rick agreed, looking over the specs. "It's convertible, too. I think it's perfect for her."

Joy bubbled in her chest. "I do, too. And it's part of a set. See the changing table and the dresser?"

"Uh huh. We'll get it all," he promised, adding everything to their cart, palming her belly when he was done. Their daughter kicked at his hand in response.

Kate turned a grin into his arm. "I think she approves. Now we just have to pick colors, patterns."

"We will," he promised, dotting a kiss to her forehead. "Pick out a few you like, and I'll do the same, and we can compare."

She nodded, swapping pages on the tablet.

"Hey, Rick?" she murmured after a moment, looking up at him.

"Hmm?" he asked around his spoon.

Beckett felt her lips lift even as her cheeks heated. It was probably a little bit silly, but she needed to say it anyway. "Thanks for this. Even though we found a murder on our vacation, thanks for the last two weeks."

Her husband laughed, low and soft. "Any time, Kate. You know that."

She did. Still, she cupped his cheek in her hand and pressed her mouth to his, savoring the taste of love and ice cream on his tongue, and basking in the rush of contentment in her veins.

* * *

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